Why are so many of you into this guy? I don't see any appeal besides maybe his toys being cool, but as a character in the G1 series I think he is one of the worst. I want to understand! What's the appeal?

I guess to us older fans he's kind of like how Bumblebee is to children now. As someone who loves the 86 movie, I can't help but like Hot-Rod.. he's more or less the star of the film. He has a great design too and that goes a long way (being cool looking is what made Boba Fett so popular)
I don't wish to derail the thread or anything but I have a question of me own.
* Raises hand.
How come female fans are always so keen on Starscream? He's not exactly what I would call noble.

I'd guess it's because he has flaws like we do. Optimus is usually shown to be quite flawless. Strong and brave, he's capable of leading the Autobots into battle to protect those who need it. While not as old as Kup, Optimus has the experience a leadership position requires. Hot Rod/Rodimus, on the other hand, is the opposite. Young and fool-hardy, he's thrust into the position of Autobot Leader and thus doesn't posess the years of experience Optimus had. He also walks in the shadow of Optimus, trying to live up to his predecessor's reputation. He has all this pressure on his shoulders, and some people can relate to that. There are also some who like seeing a hero who isn't totally flawless, someone who has his own doubts and fears.

Transforming into a sports car with flames on the hood and a big-ass spoiler fin probably helps too.

We saw Optimus all the time as a great, wise, invincible leader who might get beat once in a while, but was only defeated once, in the movie. He was like classic Superman, a larger than life hero who could do no wrong and who could always be counted on to save the day.

Rodimus we saw from the moment he took up leadership. He was more flawed as a character. He made bad calls, he made mistakes, he doubted he was up to the task of living up to Prime's legacy. Two of the best season 3 episodes deal with developing this character. He was altogether more "human" than "superhuman" which was a refreshing change and made him generally a bit more interesting to watch.

In the comics he's arguably even better since he's got a bit less angst and a bit more determination, plus he got some great UK stories like Legacy of Unicron and Peace.

And yes, the toys are extremely cool. His sports car alt mode is one of the most fun designs to come out of the futuristic concepts that started to show up in 1986 onwards.

Well to be honest, I think Hot Rod/Rodimus symbolizes growth above all else, which considering that many of us have been fans since we were children & have grown up to be collectors, well, appeals to us quite a lot.

Oh yeah, and then there's the little part about however since Breaking Bad came into existence, Motorhomes basically became cooler than Justin Timberlake & fist pumping combined.

I like Rodimus because he's not Optimus Prime. I love the Turbo Revving Young Punks charecters (like Cheetor and Hotshot), He's rash, impulsive like me but there's that leader side i liked. I know he kinda got depressing in season 3 but once you see Burden Hardest to Bear he's pretty awesome at the end of the episode. Unfortunatley the next episode after this is Return of Optimus Prime.

I can see what they were doing for Season 3 and it's totally understanable why did made Rodimus this i just wish Optimsu Prime never came back it made his death in the '86 movie less and less depressing.

Pretty much what everyone else has said. He's not a 'perfect'. He is someone with the world on his shoulders, trying his best to be the leader everyone needs while doubting if anything he does will be up to the standard Optimus set.

And in the movie, he showed the leadership he could produce. When everything was at it's darkest, with the Matrix lost, he was simply 'If Unicron has it, then we must destroy Unicron.'
And drove a screw-ship straight into the Chaos Bringer's eye.

As everyone has pretty much stated, he was relatable. he was cool as a kid because he was younger and more irresponsible. He wasn't this heroic perfect character like Prime or Magnus. It was made even better with Kup being kind of like his mentor.

Why are so many of you into this guy? I don't see any appeal besides maybe his toys being cool, but as a character in the G1 series I think he is one of the worst. I want to understand! What's the appeal?

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I could ask the same thing about Starscream, my least favorite G1 character

Hot Rod is a divisive character. Some hate him cos he killed Optimus, others think he's awesome. I'm kind of in the middle myself. I like him as a slick young risk-taker, but don't really care about Rodimus Prime. I like the way Nick Roche usually portrays him, but usually I can take or leave him

I don't particularly like him all that much, but I think his appeal to kids was that he was almost like one of them - young, doesn't know everything, he's going to make mistakes. He was more like an older brother than the father that Optimus was. He was much more relatable. I did like the Burden Hardest to Bear, as it shows him wrestling with his responsibilities.

Hot Rod/Rodimus is my favorite TF character! Asdie from an awesome characater design. He represents a classic archtype of the "reluctant chosen one." He's the rebel, the badass, the leader, the character in search of redemption, all in one. And as many have said I love him because of his flaws. He's a character who makes mistakes but never gives up in spite of them. That makes a true hero. I also love in wry sense of humor and his curiousity and love of human culture that he shares with his human friends like Daniel. Gotta love the leader of an entire faction at war who's never too busy to go fishing or help a kid get over his nightmares.

what appeals to me about hot rod/rodimus is his uncertainty of his place in the world..he was thrusted into leadership while not really wanting to be one...was full of self doubt but alwayz RISED to the occasion and overcame what ever obstacles that stood in his way..something i think all people at one time can relate/strive to achieve..

edit(thought some more about it)
plus he's a rebel alwayz going against the grain..something i can attest to..the two charcters i relate to the most both were thrusted into leadership but knew they were better suited to be a strong righthand man..magnus for his sence of nobility and honor and rodimus for his rebelliousness...thats why these two are my fav

I'm totally cool with Hot Rod, but Rodimus Prime was just something I couldn't stomach. It goes along with any quasi-mysticism in the TFU, or something completely out of place like Arcee referring to "CNA" in Spotlight: Arcee. Hell, gender in robots doesn't piss me off as much as treating them as organics, or even some religious artifact that causes them to evolve in an unrealistic way. (Before you say it, I know that talking thinking feeling robots from another planet is totally unrealistic, but any good sci fi concept is at least founded in some sort of theoretical reality.)